It is well-known to both the casual weekend athlete and the professional player, that one of the most unpleasant tasks associated with playing baseball/softball is transporting all necessary equipment to and from the ball field. A non-exhaustive list of desired equipment includes a baseball glove, a batting glove, baseballs, athletic shoes (i.e. cleats or spikes), a water bottle, a score book and a helmet.
While the prior art provides sport utility bags with storage compartments large enough to carry the player's equipment, these conventional bags are still inconvenient because of the "jumbling" of all equipment in one compartment. First, the "jumbling" of all equipment makes it difficult for the athlete to quickly locate the specific piece of equipment desired at a particular time. Secondly, items such as cleats often accumulate debris (i.e. mud, grass, etc.) which becomes dislodged as the cleats are transported. Clearly, it is undesirable for this debris to be spread on items such as the score book, and it is outright unsanitary for the debris to come in contact with items such as the water bottle. Finally, even if "dirty" items such as cleats are maintained in the sport bag separately from other items, the debris will still become dislodged in the bag, and it becomes difficult to clean without the user first emptying the entire contents of the bag, and turning the bag upside down.
More recently, sport utility bags have become available which do comprise separate compartments in which certain items can be stored. However, these bags still are difficult to clean and also hold many heavier items (such as bats) loosely, which makes the bag more difficult to carry and more likely to cause damage to other, lighter items contained in the bag.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sport utility bag which eliminates the above-identified deficiencies of prior art bags.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sport utility bag that provides compartments specifically shaped for particular pieces of equipment.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sport utility bag that provides at least one compartment having access means on the bottom surface of the bag to enable easy cleaning thereof.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved sport utility bag that provides a secured elongate section for carrying a generally rod-shaped object such as a bat, a hockey stick, a lacrosse stick or the like.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.